Speaker 1: Let's get started in the NBA and the race for
Speaker 1: the players. With just a few weeks left in the
Speaker 1: regular season. Did y'all see what happened to the Los
Speaker 1: Angeles Lakers last night? I know you saw it, because
Speaker 1: I know I saw it. LA was up with just
Speaker 1: ten seconds left in the game when the Bulls stole
Speaker 1: and then bound passed from Lebron James.
Speaker 2: Kobe White got the ball drained the three.
Speaker 1: The Lakers scored in an Austin Reeves drive to go
Speaker 1: up o one with under four seconds left, and then
Speaker 1: off the end bounced bass mister Josh Giddy, formerly of
Speaker 1: the Oklahoma City thunder nails a buzz up beating half
Speaker 1: court heave over Lebron James to win the game for
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bulls. Now, the Lakers are now four and
Speaker 1: six in their last ten games and currently hold a
Speaker 1: number four seed in the West via tiebreaker over the Grizzlies,
Speaker 1: who have the same record at forty four and twenty nine.
Speaker 1: Some breaking news for y'all probably won't be breaking by
Speaker 1: the time this post, but the Memphis Grizzlies have just
Speaker 1: fired their coach, Taylor Jenkins.
Speaker 2: They've just fired them.
Speaker 1: Okay, they're tied with the Los Angeles Lakers, battling for
Speaker 1: a fourth or fifth slot in the Western Conference. Really
Speaker 1: a fourth spot because Grizzlies at the fifth spot right now,
Speaker 1: even though they're have an ithentical record to the Los
Speaker 1: Angeles Lakers and Taylor Jenkins, who I think is a
Speaker 1: pretty damn good coach. You only got about nine games
Speaker 1: left in the season. Why the hell would you let
Speaker 1: him go?
Speaker 2: Now?
Speaker 1: Then I looked at some numbers, and I'm sad that
Speaker 1: he's gone. All right, But here's the flip side. I
Speaker 1: think they're like four and fifteen against the top seven teams,
Speaker 1: top seven seeds in the Western Conference playoff Pitcher, all Right,
Speaker 1: they're winless against the Oklahoma City Thunder this year. They're
Speaker 1: one and three against the Rockets, they're owing three against
Speaker 1: the Clippers. They're one and two against teams like the Warriors. Okay,
Speaker 1: and then you look at it. Then you look at
Speaker 1: them against the Denver Nuggets, they're one and two as well.
Speaker 1: You're looking at this team the way they've been struggling
Speaker 1: since the All Star break, like an eleven or nineteen record,
Speaker 1: can't seem to get things going. They felt like now
Speaker 1: was the time for change under the players attach a
Speaker 1: level of urgency.
Speaker 2: I saw the injuries and what have you.
Speaker 1: John Moran's been out, Jereed Jackson Junior has been out.
Speaker 1: We get that part. And John Moran hasn't looked the
Speaker 1: same this year. He's looked at it in moments in spurts.
Speaker 1: We all know what an electrifying talent he is, but
Speaker 1: the Ja Moran that used to be in terms of
Speaker 1: how he would just literally take over.
Speaker 2: I think if he was having a great year.
Speaker 1: Not to say he's awful, because he's Job Moran, it's impossible,
Speaker 1: but if he had a greaty year, I don't think
Speaker 1: Taylor Jenkins would be gone. They can talk about development
Speaker 1: or lack they're well for the younger players and all
Speaker 1: that stuff.
Speaker 2: I get out of that, But to fire.
Speaker 1: The man nine games left in the season, you know,
Speaker 1: and he's going to the playoffs, he's a fifth seed
Speaker 1: right now didn't seem to make that much sense to me.
Speaker 2: But when you look at.
Speaker 1: His record against some of those top tier teams, maybe
Speaker 1: that's what they're saying. Maybe that's what they're looking at,
Speaker 1: and maybe that's the conclusion that they reached. Let me
Speaker 1: get back to the Lakers, because here's what we're talking
Speaker 1: about right now.
Speaker 2: Lakers in a world of trouble. And I'm gonna tell
Speaker 2: you why.
Speaker 1: Because before James goes down against Boston a couple of
Speaker 1: weeks ago and suffered that groin injury, not only were
Speaker 1: the Lakers winning basketball games, the Lakers were considered one
Speaker 1: of the top two teams in the Western Conference. It
Speaker 1: was a four gone conclusion in a lot of our
Speaker 1: eyes that they would beat Denver, whose depth we've questioned,
Speaker 1: that they would beat the Houston Rockets, whose youth we questioned,
Speaker 1: that they would beat a team like the Los Angeles Clippers, who,
Speaker 1: by the way, is playing good ball, and James Harden
Speaker 1: is really doing this thing, and Norman Powell has been
Speaker 1: a stud and Todd Lucan coaches ass off and then
Speaker 1: you got Jeff Van Gundy, who's really upgraded their defense exponentially.
Speaker 1: But the flip side to it is that Kawhi Leonard
Speaker 1: has missed fifteen of his nineteen let the Clippers. Fifteen
Speaker 1: of the last nineteen playoff games for the Clippers, Kawhi
Speaker 1: Leonard has missed, so nobody has faith that he's going
Speaker 1: to be somebody that you could trust to rely upon
Speaker 1: for the Los Angeles Clippers, no matter how good he
Speaker 1: may be looking right now, nobody's gonna trust that, okay,
Speaker 1: Which brings us back.
Speaker 2: To the Lakers.
Speaker 1: If you're the Los Angeles Lakers, you were supposed to
Speaker 1: be looking it and saying, yo, they in a good spot.
Speaker 2: They had a good spot.
Speaker 1: But then Lebron goes down, and after he goes down,
Speaker 1: everything seems they're falling apart. Yeah, we had Luca doing
Speaker 1: his thing and be a more assertive offensively, but we're
Speaker 1: looking at the Lakers as a defensive unit and they've
Speaker 1: tailed off to some degree. Okay, for eight weeks they
Speaker 1: were top rated defense in the NBA.
Speaker 2: Now you're looking at them and wondering what the hell
Speaker 2: is going on?
Speaker 1: So you got that business, and then on top of
Speaker 1: it all, you turn around and not only having that situation,
Speaker 1: you gotta look at it from the standpoint that you
Speaker 1: know what, one of nine from three point range in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter, that's what the Lakers shot Thursday night
Speaker 1: against the Bulls, one to nine from three point range
Speaker 1: eleven percent. Meanwhile, a Bulls shot eleven or fourteen seventy
Speaker 1: nine percent.
Speaker 2: Where's this defense? Going.
Speaker 1: Austin Reeves was bawling. Made that shot with under four
Speaker 1: seconds left. The Brother might be the best third option
Speaker 1: in the NBA. Had thirty last night, ten to seven.
Speaker 1: He's shooting all seven free throws three or nine for
Speaker 1: three point ranges. The Brother can play. Austin Reeves is
Speaker 1: a special talent. He's really showing out. And props to
Speaker 1: JJ Redick in his staff with the Los Angeles Lakers
Speaker 1: for looking the way that they're looking with them. But
Speaker 1: right now, we got to ask ourselves that question. When
Speaker 1: you look at the legitimacy of the Los Angeles Lakers,
Speaker 1: it is such a huge, huge question mark right now
Speaker 1: because as my man, Big Perk, Kendrick Perkins said to me,
Speaker 1: if you look at Lebron James, from what his sources
Speaker 1: tell him, he's not one hundred percent healthy. He's only
Speaker 1: at about seventy five to eighty percent. Luca plays no defense.
Speaker 1: Perk keeps bringing up the statistic. He's absolutely right. Blowbids,
Speaker 1: meaning opponents blowing by you. As a defender. Nobody gets
Speaker 1: blown by more in the NBA than Luca Doncik. Since
Speaker 1: he's become a Los Angeles Laker, he's leading the league
Speaker 1: in blowbods, so that's compromising your defense as well. And
Speaker 1: as a result, the Los Angeles Lakers don't look like
Speaker 1: a shehult in themselves. So here we are ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 1: Even though when Luca first arrived he said the Los
Speaker 1: Angeles Lakers are gonna be severely compromised because of defense,
Speaker 1: because Anthony Davis is being gone. Over time, we looked
Speaker 1: at them and said, you know what, this hope, this
Speaker 1: aspirations for this team. They could get to the Western
Speaker 1: Conference finals. Now we're looking at them and we're saying,
Speaker 1: wait a minute. If you finished as a fourth or
Speaker 1: fifth seed being one and three since Lebron has returned,
Speaker 1: if you sit up there and you're gonna be in
Speaker 1: a situation where you end up as a fourth seed
Speaker 1: or a fifth seed, that means that first round series
Speaker 1: you're in jeopardy of not having the home court advantage
Speaker 1: in it number two. Even if you were to face
Speaker 1: the Methodist Grizzlies and you ended up beating them, you'd
Speaker 1: get Oklahoma City in the second round, and nobody thinks
Speaker 1: you're gonna beat them. So the Lakers could go home
Speaker 1: before the conference finals if they fall to a sixth seed,
Speaker 1: and they were locked in at the number sixth spot
Speaker 1: and had to go against number three Denver. Suddenly people
Speaker 1: look at them and say, wait a minute, yo, kitchen,
Speaker 1: those brothers would beat them.
Speaker 2: So you got all of that going on.
Speaker 1: So the Lakers have gone from looking like a bona
Speaker 1: five big time threat to come out of the West
Speaker 1: and at the least get in the way and have
Speaker 1: a face off against Oklahoma City Thunder, and in the
Speaker 1: span of a week and a half to two weeks
Speaker 1: they've disintegrated from that too. You going home in the
Speaker 1: first of the second round. That's what we looking at
Speaker 1: right now. That's what we looking at right now. And
Speaker 1: by the way, just a couple of stats. Lakers starting
Speaker 1: five last night Thursday night shot a collective eight for
Speaker 1: thirty one from three from deep.
Speaker 2: That's only twenty six percent.
Speaker 1: In the four games since Lebron James's return, the Lakers
Speaker 1: are one to three and have the fourth words defensive
Speaker 1: rating in the league during this stretch, allowing one hundred
Speaker 1: and twenty six point eight points per one hundred possessions.
Speaker 1: They got outscored forty four to twenty six in the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter. And oh, by the way, In those last
Speaker 1: four games, the Lakers have been a minus thirteen, minus fourteen,
Speaker 1: minus twelve, and minus nine with Luca and Lebron on
Speaker 1: the court, and they've been outscored by a total of
Speaker 1: forty eight points with Lebron and Luca on the court together.
Speaker 1: Lebron might have had a brain fought in Chicago last night,
Speaker 1: but we know that's not something he will customarily do.
Speaker 1: It happens Luca being blown by Luca not playing defense,
Speaker 1: Luca not be seeming in good enough shape is a
Speaker 1: different problem and a different animal altogether. It's something that
Speaker 1: we all need to pay attention to, and we cannot
Speaker 1: ignore